Then he observes men and says, I have sinned, and perverted what was right; and it has not been equaled to me.

He has redeemed my soul from passing over to the Pit, and my life shall see the light.

For He has looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from Heaven Jehovah has looked upon the earth,

to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to set free the children of death,

For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and consecrated place, even with the contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid Myself and was angry, and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.

I will go and return to My place until they confess their guilt and seek My face. In their affliction they will seek Me earnestly.

Come, and let us return to Jehovah. For He has torn, and He will heal us. He has stricken, and He will bind us up.

After two days He will restore us to life. In the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His presence.

And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

For there shall be a day that the watchmen on Mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God!

They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way; they shall not stumble in it, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.

A voice was heard on the desolate heights; weeping and supplications of the children of Israel; for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten Jehovah their God.

Return, O backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come to You; for You are Jehovah our God.

In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping. They shall go and seek Jehovah their God.

They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces headed there, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.

How shall I give you up, Ephraim? Shall I deliver you up, Israel? How shall I make you like Admah? Shall I set you as Zeboim? My heart churns within Me; My compassions are kindled together.

I will not execute My burning anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim. For I am the Mighty God, and not a man, the Holy One in your midst. And I will not enter into the city with terror.

I will heal their backslidings; I will love them freely; for My anger has turned away from him.

His branches shall spread out, and his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his scent as Lebanon.

Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard and observed him. I am as a green cypress tree; your fruit is found in Me.

In vain I have chastened your children; they received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

O Jehovah, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have destroyed them, but they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.

Behold, blessed is the man whom God corrects; therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the foolish.

I was mute, I did not open my mouth; because You have done it.

Blessed is the man whom You correct, O YAH, and teach out of Your Law,

I know, O Jehovah, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

My son, do not reject the chastening of Jehovah, and do not loathe His correction;

Why will you be stricken any more? Will you rebel more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint.

For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, nor do they seek Jehovah of Hosts.

For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid Myself and was angry, and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.

Therefore, I will be to Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to King Jareb. Yet he could not heal you, nor did he cure you of your wound.

She did not give heed to the voice; she did not receive correction; she did not trust in Jehovah; she did not draw near to her God.

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Do not be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, so that they do not come near you.

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back.

A man who hardens his neck when reproved shall be suddenly broken, and there will be no healing.

Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets like a wild animal in a net, filled with the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of your God.

He has been oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opens not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is mute, so He opens not His mouth.

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

He puts his mouth in the dust, if perhaps there may be hope.

And Ephraim is a trained heifer, loving to tread grain. But I passed over her fair neck; I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow; Jacob shall break clods for him.

Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed, save me, and I shall be saved; for You are my praise.

Bring us back, O God, and cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!

Bring us back, O God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!

Turn us back, O Jehovah the God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!

Restore us, O God of our salvation, and make a break in Your anger toward us.

Turn us back to You, O Jehovah, and we will repent; renew our days as of old,

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, that I not come and strike the earth with utter destruction.

He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Having raised up His Son Jesus, God sent Him to you first, to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.

for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Do not be led astray, my beloved brethren.

Of His own purpose He brought us forth by the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Return, O backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come to You; for You are Jehovah our God.

We lie down in our shame, and our reproach covers us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.

Indeed, You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Jehovah, are our Father, our Redeemer; Your name is from everlasting.